The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Shares Sold by Southpoint Capital Advisors LP

Southpoint Capital Advisors LP cut its stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 9.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,000,000 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 100,000 shares during the quarter. Progressive makes up approximately 6.0% of Southpoint Capital Advisors LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP owned approximately 0.17% of Progressive worth $253,760,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in PGR. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive in the first quarter valued at approximately $258,000. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive in the first quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in shares of Progressive by 259.1% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 67,074 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $13,872,000 after buying an additional 48,397 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Progressive by 59.6% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 18,075 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,738,000 after buying an additional 6,752 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HM Payson & Co. increased its position in shares of Progressive by 207.1% in the first quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 989 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $205,000 after buying an additional 667 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Progressive Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE PGR opened at $268.93 on Friday. The Progressive Co. has a one year low of $149.14 and a one year high of $270.62. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $254.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $233.34. The firm has a market cap of $157.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.54, a PEG ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.30.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $3.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.40 by $0.18. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.10% and a net margin of 11.27%. The business had revenue of $19.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.95 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 13.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. HSBC upgraded Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $253.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, August 12th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $331.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Progressive from $197.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Progressive from $257.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $300.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Progressive currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $269.81.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 43,370 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.20, for a total transaction of $10,937,914.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 473,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $119,475,967. The trade was a 8.39 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 2,981 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $251.15, for a total value of $748,678.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 26,353 shares in the company, valued at $6,618,555.95. This trade represents a 10.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 59,209 shares of company stock valued at $14,975,979 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Profile

The Progressive Corporation, an insurance holding company, provides personal and commercial auto, personal residential and commercial property, business related general liability, and other specialty property-casualty insurance products and related services in the United States. It operates in three segments: Personal Lines, Commercial Lines, and Property.